Edasseri Govindan Nair (Edasseri,
as he was known) was a poet, playwright and thinker in
Kerala, a state situated in the south-west Indian
frontier. The state is enveloped by the Arabian sea on
the west and south and mountainous ranges of Western
Ghats along the east and north. Popularly known as “Gods
Own Land” the state is well endowed with natural and
human resources. The state had also been in the
forefront of various intellectual epochs in history and
had given birth to the greats like Sankaracharya, the
spiritual apostle of Adwaita, Sree Narayana Guru, the
great Guru and social revolutionary, Swathi Thirunal the
great composer of Karnatic music, Raja Ravi Varma, who
invoked the Goddess of Art with his brush and colors,
Vallathol, a great poet, who conceptualized and indeed
nurtured Kathakali, a world famous dance form - to
mention a few. Edasseri (1906-1974) lived his life in
this state and imbibed the rich tradition and culture of
the land. Admirers of Edasseri have come under the
banner of a society christened as Edasseri Smaraka
Samithi to commemorate the birth centenary of the poet
falling in the year 2006. As part of the celebrations, a
series of activities have been planned including
seminars, poetry recitals, presentation of drama etc.
But the more important and enduring tribute to the
poet’s memory is the ambitious plan to erect a memorial
building in the poet’s memory - a building which for
generations would provide a platform for understanding
the poet’s work, facilitate research work in Malayalam
literature in general and Edasseri’s works in
particular. This memorial would foster thoughts and
activities which would strengthen the poet’s humanistic
ideals. It is interesting to take stock of the poet’s
work in so far as they reflect the poet’s ideals.
Edasseri’s writings clearly brought out his belief in
the ultimate goodness of man. He depicted in his plays
and poems characters who were strong, but capable of
empathy of epic proportions; villainous, but deserving
one more chance in the grand scheme of God. The poet
never ignored or “wrote- off” any person whether good or
bad, but tried to relate and represent them, as warp and
weft, in his humanistic beliefs. His poems reverberated
the concerns about industrialization, the inevitable
environmental disaster and human misery it portended. He
was indeed a great environmentalist even before the term
“Environmentalism” itself would have entered the lexicon
of nature lovers. Years before 'Feminism' became a major
subject of discussion among humanists, Edasseri wrote
about it, very powerfully of course. Edasseri was indeed
a phenomenon and a more detailed account of him is
available in this site.Construction of the above
mentioned centenary building is estimated to cost about
Rs.4.0 million (approx. US$ 80,000/-). This is too large
an amount for the Society which is organizing the
centenary celebrations with the limited resources it can
command. In fact the dream to construct the building can
be realized only with the full support and donations
from all those who believe in the ideals of Edasseri.
These ideals which have added significance in the
current phase of globalization can be stated as :
(i) Faith in the man’s capacity to dream and achieve a
fair and just society (ii) Environmental aspects of
global survival(iii) Need to empathize with and
support social struggles against various kinds of
oppression (iv) Respect for old myths, good social
traditions and a sense of continuity in man’s progress
and civilization(v) A Gandhian approach to
development (vi) Support to science and technology
tempered with concern for their negative impact on man
and society How the Centenary Building reflect
Edasseri’s idealsA. The Edasseri Centenary
Building will (i) house a good library consisting of all
important reference books to facilitate research,
predominantly in literature, but also on areas related
to environment, social and economic impact of
globalisation etc. which are in consonance with
Edasseri’s ideals (ii) provide all facilities for
serious research including tie-up with various
Universities. B. Drama was close to the heart of
Edasseri who has made mighty contribution to the stage
by producing some of best plays in the language and also
one-act plays both on stage and over radio. The
centenary building will be a venue for active promotion
of Drama, both as a literary specie and also a stage
activity. C. Edasseri firmly believed in the
universality of human intellect and emotions and felt
that, at the basic levels, all beings including humans,
are capable of communicating, understanding and
empathizing with each other. But according to Edasseri,
human relations are rendered complex by various divides
like language, religion and nationality. Any memorial
for Edasseri has to reflect this ideal by being
supportive of all nationalities, religions and
languages. D. Edasseri had placed particular
emphasis on Hindu-Muslim harmony and mutual respect.
This will be a central theme in all the activities to be
undertaken at Edasseri Memorial. All who believe
that the efforts described above merits support are
requested to send in their donations to Mr. E.
MadhavanSecretary, Edasseri Smaraka Samithi
"CHIRAG"46, Kannath 3rd Sub LaneAyyanthole
Thrissur 680002India